The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier
Jakob Walter, 1806–1813: A German Soldier in Napoleon's Grand ArmyBy Jakob WalterRecorded TrackLength2h 37m
About this audiobook
The Napoleonic Wars are often remembered through great battles, famous generals, and the ambitions of emperors. Far less often do we hear from the ordinary soldiers who were forced to march, fight, and struggle to survive.
The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier tells that story through the experiences of Jakob Walter, a young German stonemason conscripted into Napoleon’s army.
Across three campaigns, Walter records the exhausting marches, brutal fighting, hunger, disease, bitter cold, and constant search for food and shelter that defined the life of a common soldier.
His account offers no grand strategy or romantic vision of war. Instead, it reveals the Napoleonic Wars as they were experienced from the ground: confused, violent, unforgiving, and often governed by little more than chance and the instinct to survive.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.1 (1.8K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing, StoryGraph
GenreBiography and Memoir
Length2 hrs 37 mins
Narrated byRecorded Track
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJul 16, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Intro
2Chapter 1: Siege of Kolberg (1807)
3Chapter 2: Siege of Silberberg (1807)
4Chapter 3: Battle of Lindau (1809)
5Chapter 4: Invasion of Russia (1812)
Show all chaptersShow less
6Chapter 5: Battle of Smolensk (1812)
7Chapter 6: Borodino & Moscow (1812)
8Chapter 7: Retreat from Moscow
9Chapter 8: Orsha
10Chapter 9: Berezina
11Chapter 10: After Berezina
12Chapter 11: Reinforcements
13Chapter 12: Almost Home
Series
Life in a TankRichard Haigh2h 48m3.5 (172)$2.99 · $0.00
Rebel Private: Front and RearWilliam A. Fletcher8h 36m4.2 (567)$2.99 · $0.00
From Manassas to AppomattoxJames Longstreet20h 48m4.2 (1.7K)$4.99 · $0.00
The Military Life of Napoleon's EmpireRaymond de Montesquiou-Fezensac11h 47m$2.99 · $0.00
The Military Memoirs of an Infantry OfficerJames Archibald Hope9h 5m$2.99 · $0.00
Memoirs of Sergeant Bourgogne of the imperial guard (1812–1813)Adrien Bourgogne11h 35m4.4 (1.2K)$2.99 · $0.00
Memoirs of General Count RappJean Rapp8h 41m4.1 (29)$2.99 · $0.00
Memoirs of Captain Coignet of Napoleons Imperial Guard (1799 to 1815)Jean-Roch Coignet7h 31m4.3 (306)$2.99 · $0.00
In the Service of the Tsar Against NapoleonDenis Davidov8h 12m4.2 (81)$2.99 · $0.00
The Memoirs of Baron de Marbot, Volume IIIJean-Baptiste de Marbot11h 29m4.5 (62)$2.99 · $0.00
The Memoirs of Baron de Marbot, Volume IIJean-Baptiste Antoine Marcellin de Marbot14h 5m4.5 (58)$2.99 · $0.00
The Memoirs of Baron de Marbot, Volume IJean-Baptiste Antoine Marcellin de Marbot10h 45m4.4 (267)$2.99 · $0.00
The Civil War Memoirs of a Virginia CavalrymanRobert T. Hubard Jr8h 29m4.4 (16)$2.99 · $0.00
Diary of a Confederate SoldierJohn S. Jackman6h 47m4.1 (56)$4.99 · $0.00
Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier in the American Civil WarLouis Leon2h 24m$2.99 · $0.00
All for the UnionElisha Rhodes9h 38m4.3 (1.9K)$2.99 · $0.00
Co. AytchSam Watkins9h 10m4.3 (7.5K)$4.99 · $0.00
A Mississippi Rebel in the Army of Northern VirginiaDavid Holt12h 10m4.5 (10)$2.99 · $0.00
Memoirs of a French Napoleonic OfficerJean-Baptiste Barres9h 8m4.2 (155)$2.99 · $0.00
Send MeMarty Skovlund, Joe Kent8h 10m4.7 (1.6K)$26 · $0.00
John Muir: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth & Letters to a Friend (Annotated)John Muir10h 13m4.7 (1.1K)$1.99 · $0.00
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m4.7 (3.2K)$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m4.7 (5K)$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m4.6 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m4.6 (9.3K)$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (384)$20 · $0.00
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m4.6 (6.5K)$26 · $0.00
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m4.6 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
I Am The StormJanice Dean9h4.6 (1.5K)$8 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
Just as I AmCicely Tyson16h 8m4.6 (99K)$33 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
You may also like
Brave MenErnie Pyle20h 3m4.5 (3.8K)$2 · $0.00
Under FireHenri Barbusse12h 24m4.1 (16.7K)$1.20 · $0.00
Under FireHenri Barbusse12h 45m4.0 (3.8K)$2.30
The Mosquito BowlBuzz Bissinger10h 58m3.9 (5.5K)$29 · $0.00
The Irish Guards in the Great WarRudyard Kipling25h 26m4.2 (304)$2 · $0.00
Fix bayonets!John W. Jr. Thomason2h 38m4.3 (294)$2 · $0.00
Masters of the AirDonald L. Miller24h 19m4.3 (22.2K)$35
I Marched with PattonFrank Sisson, Robert L. Wise8h 22m4.2 (1.7K)$26 · $0.00
Canada in war-paintRalph W. Bell3h 49m$2 · $0.00
With my regiment : From the Aisne to La BasséeArthur Mills4h 39m$1 · $0.00
Norman Ten HundredA. Stanley Blicq2h 14m$1 · $0.00
In the Firing Line, Stories of the War by Land and SeaArthur St. John Adcock4h 5m$2.30
The Diggers: The Australians in FrancePatrick MacGill2h 4m$2 · $0.00
"Contemptible", by "Casualty"Anonymous4h 23m$2 · $0.00
"I was there" with the Yanks on the western front 1917-1919Cyrus Leroy Baldridge35m4.0 (51)$2.30
The Middle Parts of Fortune (Annotated)Frederic Manning12h 18m$2 · $0.00
Soldier Silhouettes on Our FrontWilliam L. Stidger2h 25m$2 · $0.00
Five Months at AnzacJoseph Lievesley Beeston2h3.6 (36)$2.30
Four Weeks in the TrenchesFritz Kreisler1h 25m3.8 (170)$2 · $0.00
Soldiers of a Different ClothJohn Wukovits13h 33m4.5 (242)$23